"THE SUFFERING SERVANT OF ISAIAH IN COGNITIVE- CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE: LOGOTHERAPY AND THE BIBLE"

Chapter 12

THE SUFFERING SERVANT OF ISAIAH INCOGNITIVE- CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE:

LOGOTHERAPY AND THE BIBLE

Paul N. Anderson

One of the timeless themes of the Bible, theSuffering Servant of Isaiah— typologicallyfulfilled in the ministry of Jesus as the Christ—continues to be relevant in every generation. Itasserts a paradoxical understanding of how God hasworked in the past, and it suggests propheticallyhow God might yet be working in the present and thefuture. While Yahweh’s servant in Isaiah has beenassociated with individual leaders before or duringthe exile, the motif in chapters 41–53 certainlywould have been understood as a reference tocorporate Israel by its first audiences, addressingthe theological problem of Israel’s suffering andhumiliation at the hand of the Babylonians in thelight of God’s sovereign power and redemptive work.1While the followers of Jesus clearly connected thefulfillment of the Suffering Servant motif with hisministry and the Christ Events, considering earlierand later understandings in the light ofcognitive-critical biblical analysis is highlyinstructive. It illumines originativeunderstandings of how God works—not only despitehuman suffering, but also through the suffering ofthe faithful—to accomplish his redemptive workin ways that could not otherwise have beenimagined. To suggest how this might be so in thelight of Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy is the focusof the present essay.

Logotherapy and Cognitive-Critical Biblical Analysis

As an approach employing cognitive-criticalbiblical analysis, the goal is to consider therelation between human perception and experience inthe inference of meaning with relation to imagesand themes within biblical texts. Therefore, theinterest is not simply to establish the literaryhistory of a theme and clusters of associations; itis to understand more fully how

1 For important treatments of the Suffering Servant in

Isaiah, see Bellinger and Farmer (1998); Bock and Glasser(2011); Driver (2009); Janowski and Stuhlmacher (2004); Knohl(2000); North (1956).

174 Psychological Hermeneutics for Biblical Themes and Texts

such meanings grew out of and furtheredexperiential realities among biblical authors andaudiences. As the trail-blazing work of WayneRollins has virtually established aninterdisciplinary field of Bible and Psychology,2 myhope is that insights from Viktor Frankl’sLogotherapy will contribute toward a fullerunderstanding of the Suffering Servant motifexperientially and existentially. Challenging thepleasure principle of Freud and the will to power of Adler,the third Viennese school of psychotherapy focusedon humanity’s search for meaning as the essentialdrive of human existence. In doing so, Frankloffers enduring insights as to the impact ofmeaning in addressing the universal problems ofsuffering and pain.3 As an analytical approachrooted in observations of human perceptions andexperiences within concentration camps during theHolocaust, Frankl’s approach avails a fullerunderstanding of texts originating during times ofIsrael’s Diaspora at the hands of the Assyrians,subsequent Exile in Babylon, and eventualoccupation by the Romans. In particular, viewingIsaiah’s treatment of the Suffering Servant ofYahweh in the light of Frankl’s Logotherapyparadigm offers a fresh and serviceableunderstanding of these texts and their interpre-tation in cognitive-critical perspective.Especially relevant to an existential

understanding of Isaiah’s Suffering Servant motifare several of Frankl’s insights and centralelements of his theory. Developed over his threeyears as a Jewish prisoner in such concentrationcamps as Auschwitz and Dachau, Frankl’s approachembodies the dictum of Nietzsche, “He who has a whyto live can bear with almost any how.”4 In the Naziextermination camps of the Second World War, Franklobserved that human beings could endure conditionsfar worse than he had been taught in medicalschool. Further, the most physically robust andmuscular subjects were not necessarily the mostlikely to survive the extreme conditions of theirordeals. Time and again, physically robust inmatessuccumbed to their harsh conditions, while morefrail individuals at times found ways to endure.Rather, those who had something to live for—lovedones, a deeply personal religious faith, a personalgoal requiring completion—these were able to survivewhen others gave up hope and died. In his own case,

his passion to finish his book on Logotherapy, amongother callings, gave him the will to survive—becauseof meaning. What Frankl (1962, p. 74) discoveredamidst the pain and suffering of death-campprisoners was that “emotion, which is suffering,ceases to be suffering as soon as we form a clearpicture of it.”

2 See especially Rollins (1999), where he shows theextent to which the field of analytical psychology itself wasfounded upon therapeutic interests in applying biblical wisdomto psychological wellbeing in the modern era. In addition, seeRollins (1983) and the impressive four-volume collection byEllens and Rollins (2004).

3 In addition to his best-selling Man’s Search for Meaning(1962), see Frankl (1963, 1967, 1978, 1988).

4 Cited several times by Frankl, but also referenced inGordon Allport’s preface to Man’s Search for Meaning (Frankl, 1962,p. x). At Auschwitz alone, the survival rate was one intwenty-eight over a three-year period.

The Suffering Servant of Isaiah in Cognitive-Critical Perspective 175

Frankl’s theory of the will to meaning poses a “height-psychology” rather than a depth-psychologyapproach. Rather than looking within oneself forexistential sustenance, Logotherapy helps thesubject consider one’s situation and history beyondoneself—in the light of transcendent values andsignificance—viewing present situations in the lightof a more elevated perspective. As Frankl assertsin various places in his writings (1988, p. 16),“Logotherapy’s concept of man is based on threepillars, the freedom of the will, the will tomeaning, and the meaning of life.”

The Freedom of the Will

On the first pillar, humans often have no choiceabout the conditions they face in life; what theydo have a choice about, though, is what they dowith those conditions—how they perceive them,regard them, and act toward them. Therefore, one isnever confined to deterministic givens; one alwayshas the freedom to respond to one’s situation andcircumstances as a human agent, and such a freedomalways engenders hope. Therefore, the Logotherapistwill endeavor to help the subject consider theircircumstances in the light of values andaspirations, transforming givens into possibilitiesand viewing even apparent limitations as potentopportunities. Such a perspective engenders freedomover despair, and it encourages a sense ofresponsibility for one’s attitudes and actionsregarding one’s situation. Hope and hopelessness areperceived realities rather than determined ones.

The Will to Meaning

The second pillar, the will to meaning, is foundedon the essence of existence, which always involvesself-transcendence. Not only does self-transcendenceinvolve detachment from investments and the

releasing of desired outcomes, but it alsoestablishes connections with what may be regarded aspiritual reality, even if it is not religious, assuch. One cannot effectively pursue happiness, assuch a quest is inevitably elusive. Happiness evadesthose who seek it, and it is found only as anincidental discovery when pursuing an alternative,meaningful goal. Thus, in seeking a reason forhappiness—one rooted in trans-subjective meaningrather than happiness itself—happiness is noteffectively pursued, but happiness eventually ensues.Such is a paradoxical approach to life’s meaning,whereby self-actualization finds its fulfillmentonly in releasing one’s personal investments andembracing the actualization of ideals and values inservice to a purpose or calling beyond oneself.Because authentic meaning cannot be invented (itcan only be discovered), the will to meaning isultimately a quest for truth—seeing one’sresponsibility in the world regarding what onegives, what one takes, and the stands one takestoward the world. And, the highest value is love.Therefore, the will to meaning seeks to transformthe elements of the “tragic triad” of suffering—


pain, guilt, and death (Frankl, 1988, p. 73) —into action, responsibility, and life.

The Meaning of Life

In discerning the meaning of life, this third pillaris itself composed of three types of values: thecreative, the experiential, and the attitudinal.As no individual can escape pain, taking a standregarding one’s fate makes all the difference. Asno individual can escape guilt, taking a standregarding one’s self becomes determinative. As noindividual can escape death, seeking the meaning oflife becomes a transformative possibility, asmeaning can be found even in unavoidablesuffering. Here the primary difference isattitudinal. As despair is challenged byfulfillment, attitudinal values allow both failureand success to be viewed through a transformativeperspective. “Lack of success does not imply lackof meaning” (Frankl, 1963, p. 123). Rather, “humanlife can be fulfilled not only in creating andenjoying, but also in suffering!” (Frankl, 1963, p.122). Sometimes a creative alternative to sufferingcan produce unimagined possibilities; sometimessuffering cannot be escaped and must simply beborne. Either way, attitudinal values have thecapacity to transcend the liabilities of sufferingif higher ideals and values can be actualized,either despite or through the suffering. This iswhere discerning the meaning of life enables one totranscend the threats of pain, suffering, anddeath. Finding logos—meaning—within suffering itselftransforms deepest pain into highest joy.While Frankl’s work possesses a great number of

applications, it yet deserves connections withclassic biblical texts.5 In particular, theapplication of Frank’s Logotherapy paradigm to thesuffering of Israel as a nation, as well as thatof Jesus and his followers, makes the SufferingServant motif a prime candidate for consideration.While the Suffering Servant of the Isaiah tradition

ultimately connects with the eschatological missionof Jesus in the minds of New Testament writers,authentic meanings neither began nor ended there.If the first audiences of Isaiah 40–55, likely inthe sixth century bce, found existential meaning inthe Servant motif, what might that have been? Andif followers of Jesus identified his mission asfulfilling the typology of Isaiah’s SufferingServant, how might they have also been exhorted toapply the motif to their own lives as a means offacing the suffering and hardship of their day,as well? In these respects Viktor Frankl’s will tomeaning provides a distinctive way forward forglimpsing the significance of the motif incognitive-critical perspective.6

5 For applications of Logotherapy to clinical practice ingeneral, see Fabry, Bulka, and Sakahian (1979); for family-therapy applications, see Weeks and L’Abate (1982); for abiblical application, see Leslie (1965).

6 See other cognitive-critical approaches to biblicalinterpretation regarding applications of Leon Festinger’sCognitive-Dissonance Theory to the prophetic ministry


The Suffering Servant of Isaiah and ParadoxicalRedemption in History and Existence

As Frankl’s Logotherapy takes full note ofparadoxical realities, both in terms of sufferingand happiness, his approach indeed illumines aspectsof history and existence central to understandingthe use and meaning of the Suffering Servant motifwithin the Isaiah tradition. Central to hisapproach, however, is the dialogue betweenexperience and perception—reflecting cognitive-critical interests. Therefore, a brief overview ofIsrael’s historical situation provides a valuablebackdrop for understanding the meanings andassociations of the theme among its original authorsand audiences.

The Diaspora, the Exile, and Restoration of Israel

From an historical perspective, the literarytradition of the prophet Isaiah spanned some ofthe most challenging times of Israel’s history.During the initial ministry of the prophet, theAssyrian threat was on the horizon. While hisministry began several years earlier, Isaiahreports receiving a vision in the Jerusalem Templethe year King Uzziah died (Isa. 6:1; 739 bce).Undoubtedly aware of the expansion of the AssyrianEmpire under Tiglath-Pilesar III, Isaiah calls forJudah to repent and to turn to Yahweh, lestimpending devastation should ensue. As will happenseveral times over the next couple of centuries,the Jewish prophets warn against trusting in Egyptor other nations, calling instead for trusting inGod, only to find that neighbor-alliances areperceived as treason by the dominant power. Thisinevitably brings a swift correction by eitherAssyria or Babylon, and both Jewish kingdoms sufferterribly at the hands of their occupiers, as aresult.While Isaiah scholars have come to have some pause

as to whether there is a clear break between Isaiah40–55 and 56–66, Second Isaiah does indeed mentionthe deliverance anticipated through Cyrus. Whetherthe restoration of Jerusalem (538–445 bce) is anactualized reality or simply an envisioned hope inIsaiah, the Isaiah tradition speaks of the city andits temple being rebuilt in a hopeful way (Isa.44:26–28; 45:13; 75:14; 58:12; 60:10; 61:1–6; 62:5–12; 65:19–25; 66:1). Therefore, the Isaiah traditionspans nearly three centuries of Israel’s history,addressing its greatest calamities and embracingits greatest aspirations along the way.

of Jesus, James Loder’s Transformative-Knowing paradigm to thedistinctive origins of Gospel traditions, and James Fowler’sFaith-Development Theory to the dialectical thinking of theFourth Evangelist and the formation of Gospel traditions in bi-optic perspective: Anderson (2004a and 2004b). See also thereception report of The Christology of the Fourth Gospel (especially“The Dialectical Character of John 6,” Anderson, 2010, pp. 137–66) in Anderson, Ellens, and Fowler (2004).


Addressing Existential Crises by the Isaiah Tradition

While space does not allow a detailed numeration ofthe sufferings sustained by the Jewish peoplebetween the mid-eighth and mid-fifth centuries atthe hands of the Assyrians and the Babylonians, thefollowing are likely.First, being annexed and taxed by neighbor states

would have been humil- iating and irritating withinany setting. Not only did Assyrian kings exacttribute, but Menahem, king of Israel, exactedlarge sums of money from his own people (evenripping open pregnant women, 2 Kgs 15:14–23) togive to Assyria as a means of retaining his place ofpower under the reign of Tiglath-Pilesar III (745bce). The pain of forced tribute continued under theBabylonian Empire, as well, and pressures to shiftless expensive allegiances to Egypt brought on theBabylonian onslaught.Second, the Assyrian campaigns not only

destroyed the cities of the northern and southernkingdoms (except for Jerusalem) and depopulated theland, carrying off prisoners to Assyria andrepopulating the land (especially Samaria) withforeigners (734–715 bce). The Assyrians especiallywere noted also for their cruelty to theirconquered subjects—impaling victims alive anddragging others away with chains and hooks throughtheir skin (Amos 4:2). Not the least ofdevastations was the scattering of the ten northerntribes of Israel, never to return fully again.Third, when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem

(again a conse- quence of perceived treason as afactor of renewed alliances with Egypt) underNebuchadnezzar, they killed many of its subjects,ransacked the temple and stole its sacred vessels,and carried away its leading families to Babylonas slaves. As a further dispersion of theJewish people, those who were not taken toBabylon either fled to other nations or stayedbehind, seeking to gather the fragments of theirbroken existence (597–582 bce).

Fourth, while in Babylon for half a century, theJewish exiles lived under the humiliation of beinga conquered people (note the captives’ weeping andthe captors’ taunting in Ps. 137)—despiteunanticipated positive developments while inexile. In Babylon, the Jews of the Diaspora notonly faced the challenge of warding off dominantreligious values, practices, and mythologies, butwere also forced to preserve their own histories,values, and religious memories in written form.Fifth, as some prosperity had been actualized

while they were alien residents in Babylon, and asDiaspora Jews had made liveable homes in otherlands, the prospect of returning to Jerusalemcreated its own forms of bittersweet crisis.Despite appeals to return and rebuild Zion, many ofthe more established Jewish residents in Babylonand elsewhere refused to make the trip (538–515bce). When some did, they wept as they rememberedthe former glory of Jerusalem and the temple (458bce; Ezra 3:12). Further, those who had stayedbehind in Judah faced further hardship and danger(445 bce; Neh. 1:1–4).


As the Isaiah tradition was likely produced andcompiled over the time span of these momentousevents, its many oracles, accounts, hymns, andprophecies can be seen to be addressing these issuesdirectly and indirectly. The prophet’s warningsabout repentance-lest-calamity-fall shows a desireto offset the likelihoods that God will use theAssyrians as the “rod” of Yahweh’s anger (Isa.10:5), and that the Assyrians will carry off thewealth of Samaria and Damascus (Isa. 8:4).Nonetheless, Israel is comforted by the news thatthe Lord will also strike with a rod against theAssyrians (Isa. 30:31). Sennacherib’s onslaught isdescribed in graphic detail, and Nebuchadnezzar’splundering of the temple is anticipated as aconsequence of Hezekiah’s foolish sin in thehistorical chapters of Isaiah 36–39. Isaiah evenprophesies that some of Hezekiah’s sons will betaken away to Babylon to serve as eunuchs in thepalace of the foreign king as a result (Isa. 39:8).It is after that warning of devastation that the

message of comfort rings forth in chapters 40 andfollowing, as Jerusalem’s warfare is declared tobe ended and that she has received double (inblessing) for all her sins (Isa. 40:1–2). A voicecrying in the wilderness heralds the raising up ofvalleys and the razing down of mountains—preparingthe way for Lord to bring deliverance to hispeople (Isa. 40:3–11). More explicitly, Yahwehwill raise up Cyrus the Persian king as hisanointed agency to be a shepherd to Israel—pavingthe way for them to return to their homeland andassisting them to rebuild Zion and the temple (Isa.44:24–45:13).7 Therefore, Yahweh is about to createJerusalem and its people again as a joy and adelight (Isa. 65:18–19), and the descendants ofthose who oppressed Israel will come and bow at thefeet of the inhabitants of Zion—the city of the Lord(60:14). Thereby will the people and city of Israelbecome a light to the nations (Isa. 42:6; 49:6;60:3), and despite Israel’s hardships the glory ofthe Lord will indeed be revealed (Isa. 40:5; 58:8;60:1–2; 61:1–3).In these and many other ways, the message of the

Isaiah tradition speaks directly to the existentialcondition of its audiences, likewise anticipating

and reflecting upon challenges and theirresolutions. With poetic grace and suggestiveforce, this is why Isaiah has been a favorite pieceof literature in every generation. It takes thelead role as the first of the prophetic bookscanonically—also being the longest. Thus, it was byfar the most copied and referenced work among theQumran Scrolls and the Christian traditions alike,and its valued use has continued to be robust amongChristians and

7 Note that in the Cyrus Cylinder, King Cyrus ispresented as chosen by the Babylonian god Marduk to redeem theBabylonian kingdom, chastening King Nabonidus for abusing hisBabylonian subjects and neglecting the Babylonian god inexchange for the moon god, Sîn. His absence from Babylon whilehe sojourned in Tayma (with some connection with the Tiamatmyth) also frustrated the Marduk priesthood, so this may explainwhy Cyrus was able to assume leadership in Babylon with littleopposition. Cyrus is thus presented as liberating theBabylonian people from their derelict leader on the CyrusCylinder, and his graciousness in liberating its hostage peoplescertainly won the hearts of the Jewish people in the region(cf. 2 Chron. 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–8).


Jews over the last two millennia. Mostsignificantly, however, its effective addressing ofthe existential needs of its earlier audiencescarries over into its doing the same across theboundaries of time and space as a classic text.

Yahweh’s Servant as Corporate Israel

From the perspective of Isaiah’s audiences, however,things looked different. Rather than seeing theServant of Yahweh as a futuristic reference pointingto a Messiah figure, Jews in the sixth centurybce likely understood the Suffering Servant to bea past reference, casting light on their currentsituation. While some references to Yahweh’sServant are singular,8 many of them are plural.Singular references could, of course, refer to asuffering- though-faithful individual, such as theprophet Isaiah himself (Isa. 20:3), Eliakim son ofHilkiah (Isa. 22:20), King David (Isa. 37:35), oreven Moses (Isa. 63:11), but the fact of manyplural references to Yahweh’s Servant makes thishighly problematic.9 Note the following pluralreferences to the Servant of Yahweh: Jacob andIsrael (italics emphasizing corporate features):

• “But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom Ihave chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend. . .” (Isa. 41:8–9)

• “Who is blind but my servant, or deaf like mymessenger whom I send? Who is blind like mydedicated one, or blind like the servant ofthe LORD? . . . But this is a people robbed andplundered, all of them are trapped in holes andhidden in prisons; they have become a prey withno one to rescue . . .” (Isa. 42:19, 22)

• “You are my witnesses, says the LORD, and myservant whom I have chosen . . .” (Isa.43:10)

• “For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israelmy chosen, I call you by your name . . . sothat they may know . . . I am the LORD, andthere is no other” (Isa. 45:4–6)

• Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel. . .” ( Isaiah 46:3)

• “Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called. . .when I summonthem. . .” (Isaiah 48:12–13)

• “Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea . .. say, “The LORD has redeemed his servantJacob!” They did not thirst when he led themthrough the deserts . . .” (Isaiah 48:20–21)

Note the parallel convention in Hosea 11:1–4,where “Israel” and “Ephraim”—the child and sonof Yahweh—is referred to as “them” and

8 Singular references include: Isa. 42:1; 49:5; 50:10; 52:13–14; 53:11–12.9 Isaiah 41:8–9; 42:19, 22; 43:10; 45:4–6; 46:3–4; 48:12–13, 20–21.


Yahweh’s chosen people. Here (as the italics suggest)plural and singular references alike are usedinterchangeably to refer to corporate Israel as thechosen people of God.

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of EgyptI called my son. The more I called them, the more theywent from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, andoffering incense to idols. Yet it was I who taughtEphraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they didnot know that I healed them. I led them with cords ofhuman kindness, with bands of love. I was to them likethose who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down tothem and fed them.

This is precisely the convention used in SecondIsaiah as a reference to corporate Israel. Whenthe patriarchs Jacob and Israel are mentioned,10such is an intimate and familial means of referringto all the Jewish people, who bear the history andidentity of the Suffering Servant of Yahweh.Therefore, the preliminary meaning of theSuffering Servant motif in Isaiah refers to thesuffering and humiliation of the Jewish nation,which had been conquered, subjugated, and cartedoff to exile in Babylon. While ultimate meaningsfind their fulfillment in the mission and history ofJesus as the Messiah/Christ (from a Christianperspective), earlier associations among audiencesin the sixth century bce would have been existentialand profound.

The Peaceable Character of the Servant of Yahweh: Non-violent Israel as a Contrast to Cyrus the Anointed One

A comparison/contrast between Cyrus the AnointedOne of Yahweh and the Faithful Servant of Yahweh ishere significant. Both agents are used by God, butCyrus, the King of Persia, is presented as the“stirred up one from the north,” who tramplesrulers “as the potter treads clay” (Isa. 41:25).Cyrus will be a “shepherd to Israel” and will carryout Yahweh’s purpose, laying the foundation forthe temple and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Isa.

44:28). As the “anointed” one, Yahweh uses Cyrus tolevel mountains, strip kings of their robes, cutthrough bars of iron, make paths straight, and, mostimportantly, “he shall build my city and set myexiles free” (Isa. 45:1–2, 13). As the Persian“bird of prey” is called in from the east, Yahwehtranscends his people’s transgressions to fulfillhis purposes, bringing deliverance and salvationfor Zion and Israel, his glory (Isa. 46:8–13).

On the other hand, the character of his chosenone, Israel, is neither violent nor forceful. Incontrast to trampling rulers as a potter pounds

10 For references to “Jacob” see Isa. 40:27; 41:14, 21; 42:24;43:1, 22, 28; 44:1,

2, 5, 21, 23; 45:4, 19; 46:3; 48:1, 12, 20; 49:5, 6, 26; for references to“Israel” see Isa.40:27; 41:8, 14; 42:24; 43:1, 22, 28; 44:1, 5, 21, 23; 45:4, 17, 25; 46:3,13; 47:4; 48:1,2, 12; 49:3, 5, 6, 7; 52:12.


his clay, Yahweh’s Servant will neither extinguisha smoldering wick nor break a bruised reed (Isa.42:3). As opposed to bringing justice throughleveling the ground, breaking doors of bronze, andstripping kings of their robes, the Servant ofYahweh will bring forth justice among the nationsthrough his righteousness and by means of theSpirit that is endowed him (Isa. 42:1–2). WhileCyrus is the Anointed One, the households of Jacoband Israel are God’s children—formed to be Yahweh’sown while still in the womb (Isa. 44:1, 21). WhileYahweh’s Servant is blind and deaf, Israel willparadoxically be a light to the world and a teacherof the nations (Isa. 42:19; 49:3–6; 53:12). As atender plant and a root out of the dry ground,Yahweh’s Faithful Servant will bring aboutredemption without resorting to violence ordeceitful words (Isa. 53:2, 9).One can understand how Jesus of Nazareth may

indeed have followed that trajectory in setting thecourse for his own mission and teachings. Note theironic fact that even as the Jesus of the canonicalGospels is presented as identifying himself withthe paradoxical agency of Isaiah’s Faithful/Suffering Servant, his greatest resistance among hisfollowers comes from those advocating thetriumphal agency of Isaiah’s royal Anointed One,who liberates through force rather than truth.Among Jesus’ followers, debates readily ensueregarding who will sit at his left and right whenhe ushers in his “kingdom” (Mark 10:35–42); inresponse to Peter’s confessing him to be theMessiah, Jesus asserts that the Son of Man mustsuffer and die—with direct implications for Jesus’followers (Mark 8:27–38); after Jesus has fled themultitude’s designs on his future, following thefeeding of the 5,000, even some of his followersabandon him and walk with him no longer—especiallyupon his emphasis on being willing to ingest theflesh and blood (martyrologically) of thesuffering Son of Man (John 6:1–66). One of Jesus’followers was Simon the Zealot (Luke 6:15), and one

of the bases for rejecting Jesus’ mission amongthe Judean leaders was that he failed the test ofbeing a king like David (John 7:40–52)—itself atypology with some military associations. Jesus,however, is presented in the various Gospeltraditions as siding with Isaiah’s Servant typology—at times over and against a Cyrus-orientedperspective of Yahweh’s Anointed One. In so doing,he also identifies with the calling of Israel asthe faithful Servant of God—even unto suffering anddeath if required by the truth. In historicalperspective the paradoxical workings of God can beunderstood more fully in the light of history andexistence.

The Servant Songs in Cognitive-Critical Perspective

Not only does Isaiah’s content address the needs ofits audiences, however; so does the literary formof its material. In particular, the poeticcharacter of some of the Servant passages has lentitself to the inference that at least four “ServantSongs” may have had an earlier history within theworship


life of the Isaianic situation.11 Whether or notsuch a pre-history of the text is plausible, oreven whether the demarcation of texts iscompelling, the least that can be said is thatthese are important sections thematically—each ofthem emphasizing Israel’s role as the Servant ofYahweh. While other passages also deserve noticewhen considering the theme overall, these fourtexts certainly instill a sense of Israel’s vocationand God’s provision despite suffering andhardship.12The first Servant Song (Isa. 42:1–9) emphasizes

the chosenness of Israel among the nations. God’sSpirit is upon them, and they will bring righteousjustice to the nations—neither by violence nor byforce—therein displaying the glory of the Lord. Thesecond Servant Song (Isa. 49:1–13) emphasizes God’scalling and naming of Israel even before life inthe womb—to bring hostages out of darkness and tosettle heritage sites that are desolate— bringingcomfort to the world. The third Servant Song(Isa. 50:4–9) presents Yahweh’s Servant as ateacher and a learner—morning by morning discerningthe ways of God. Despite being tortured and abused,the Servant has resisted returning violence forviolence with divine assistance and grace. Thefourth Servant Song (Isa. 52:13–53:12) is the mostfamous of the four,

11 The inference of these Servant Songs form-critically wasfirst made by B. Duhm (1892/1922), although problems withlimiting the thematic and formal analyses to these texts aloneis somewhat problematic. For instance, beyond these fourpassages within Second Isaiah, Yahweh’s Servant is alsomentioned in Isaiah 41:8, 9; 42:19; 43:10; 44:1, 2, 22, 26;45:4; 48:20; 50:10. Likewise, references to songs are also madein Isaiah 42:10, 11; 44:23; 52:8; 54:1, not that these werethe only songs sung in the Isaianic tradition. At least theseare important passages worth considering interpretively, andmost Isaiah interpreters have followed many of Duhm’s originalinferences, including other judgments regarding a diachronicreading of the text.

12 While recent critical scholarship has taken an interestin reading Isaiah more synchronically (noting impressivecontinuities between the overall composition—literarily andtheologically) over and against diachronic approaches,nonetheless, three layers of Isaiah’s traditions are oftencritically inferred:

1. Assorted contributions of the prophet Isaiah(eighth and seventh centuries or later) might include:chs. 1–11 (prophetic oracles and narratives, ch. 12 isan appended hymn of praise), chs. 13–23 (some oraclesagainst foreign nations, with later material added),chs. 28–32 (prophetic oracles, after which ch. 33follows as a later prophetic liturgy).

2.Second Isaiah (dating from the middle sixthcentury) seems to include chs. 34–35 (passages of hopeand doom), chs. 36–39 (as an historical backdropparallel to 2 Kgs 18:13–20:19), and chs. 40–55 (speakcomfort to Jerusalem and promise deliverance throughCyrus, who will liberate the Jewish people and help themreturn to Jerusalem).

3. Third Isaiah, reflecting the return to Jerusalem(post-538 bce) may include such sections as chs. 24–27(sometimes called “Isaiah’s little apoca- lypse”) andchs. 56–66 (promising the restoration of Jerusalem).Reflecting movement toward seeing ancient manuscripts asbeing continuously rewritten, thereby blurring thedistinctions between earlier and later material; seethe review of recent literature by Doak (2010).


but it does not stand alone; it echoes and developsthemes presented elsewhere in the text. The passageopens with the promise of Israel’s prosperity andexaltation despite her tragic humiliation anddevastation—Israel has come to be a people ofsorrows and acquainted with grief. Despite beingchosen by God, the Servant’s humiliation causedthe Jewish people to feel their suffering was theresult of God’s affliction and punishment, and yetby the faithful Servant’s suffering are latergenerations healed. Like a lamb led to theslaughter, so their Jewish loved ones opened nottheir mouths. They accepted their fate—perhaps theyalso had no choice, and yet their suffering hasbeen the very path leading to future redemption—thequality of which is enjoyed paradoxically by lateraudiences. Therefore, Yahweh’s righteous Servant,who had done no harm or violence to anyone, borethe sins of the faithless and brought about theredemption of later generations in the end.When considered in the light of a cognitive-

critical perspective, where human experience andperception are analyzed together, several featuresof these hymnic passages become apparent. First, ascorporate expressions, they reflect the intentionalinculcation of a corporate identity. “We are inthis together” need not be asserted explicitly; itis actualized in the meeting for worship itself.Second, the rehearsal of corporate tragicexperience is confessed openly—not denied orignored—but so is the vision-raising prospect ofhope. Despite real suffering and humiliation, suchis not the last word—God’s Word abides withfinality. Third, both tragedy and prosperity areviewed from the perspective of God’s redemptivepurposes and larger plan, beyond what is currentlyimaginable. By raising the element of divinepurpose, meaning is added to the interpretation ofindividual and corporate histories and destinies.Fourth, acknowledging the unanticipated positiveoutcomes of exilic life, a measure of gratitude isexpressed for God’s provision not only despite

adversity, but through it. This stance affects howthe unforeseen future can be approached in faith,not by sight. Fifth, in reminding Israel of theServant’s calling as a nation, the exhortation isthus issued to remember Israel’s calling as a lightto the nations and a blessing to the world. Thatvocation will only be actualized as Israel’srighteous character and just actions exhibit thegracious and generous spirit commen- surate withthe righteous ways of Yahweh.

Logotherapy, the Suffering of Corporate Israel, and Paradoxical Redemption

Viewed as a corporate embodiment of the Jewishpeople over recent generations of adversity andsuffering, Isaiah’s inclusion of contemporaryaudiences within the identity of the Faithful-though-Suffering Servant of Yahweh demonstrates aheight-psychology approach rather than a depth- psychologyapproach. By focusing on the future rather thanintrospection and retrospection, Logotherapy “de-focuses all the vicious circle formations


and feedback mechanisms which play such a great rolein the development of neuroses. Thus, the typicalself-centeredness of the neurotic is broken upinstead of being continually fostered andreinforced.”13Therefore, the will to meaning can be seen as the

primary motivational force of humanity because asense of meaning not only emerges from existence;it confronts existence and calls for a stance towardthe world and one’s place in it for the future.Values do not push; they pull. Therefore, theevocative character of motivation itself possessesmore sustaining power in being drawn by truthrather than being shoved by force. In looking atthe Isaiah tradition’s approach to Israel’s history—past, present, and future— this is precisely theapproach its authors take over several generations.Rather than the will to pleasure (be faithful because youwill experience less pain and more profit) or the willto power (be faithful because you will eventually comeout on top), it is primarily the will to meaning (befaithful because this is what you were created for,and how God intends to use you, as a light to andredeemer of the nations) that ties Israel’s presentsituation to the original calling of Abraham inGenesis 12:1–3.The children of Abraham are called to be a

blessing to the nations, and this is the reason theyare granted the land, posterity, and their history—albeit a mixed one. Rather than focus on historicdisappointments, Isaiah declares: “Do not rememberthe former things, or consider the things of old. Iam about to do a new thing; now it springs forth,do you not perceive it? I will make a way in thewilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isa. 33:18–19). It is precisely into an awareness of what Godis doing that Isaiah invites his audiences, and sucha transformative perspective comes from seeingmeaning in Israel’s past, present, and future.Frankl would agree, as this is precisely how heobserved and discovered the most potent means ofdealing with modern death-camp experiences.

Existential Frustration and Noögenic Neuroses

According to Frankl, because a person’s will tomeaning can be frustrated by the incongruity

between conflicts in moral values, this can lead toexistential frustration—essentially a spiritualproblem. As such, the problem is not a factor ofconflicts between instincts and drives, but insensing that one’s purpose or calling in life isbeing thwarted by any number of obstacles— inwardlyor outwardly. Therefore, the problem is one ofinsight (noös means “understanding” in Greek), asone fails to see one’s calling being actualized forany number of reasons. The therapist may thereforeencourage the client to make a change or to chooseanother path or career if one’s gifts or

13 Frankl (1962), p. 96. While Frankl provides anexcellent overview of “Basic Concepts of Logotherapy” in thisbook (pp. 95–135), fuller accounts of his theory can be foundin his other writings, especially his gathering of collectedessays (Frankl, 1967).


callings would be thereby better suited. This iswhat is meant by the spiritual component ofexistence, which is fulfilled by recovering a senseof meaning toward which one’s endeavors can bereoriented. Therefore, “Logotherapy regards itsassignment as that of assisting the patient to findmeaning in his life” (Frankl, 1962, p. 102).In Isaiah’s addressing the people of Israel,

Yahweh is presented as reminding them that theydid not form themselves; rather, they were knownand named before they entered their mother’s womb,and the God who created the universe is stillwatchful over their state. Further, they arereminded that the original vision of Zion as abeacon to the nations will not go unfulfilled; Godwill once again restore his temple and his city as ameans of furthering the redemption of the world.Lest they succumb either to despair or to comfort(some having actually prospered in Babylon), theyare exhorted to lift their eyes to their homelandand to prepare for returning and rebuilding theirfallen nation. God is not finished with them yet,and their calling as a family of blessing stillstands. Therefore, their existential frustrationand noögenic neuroses are challenged by areassertion of Israel’s corporate calling as anation: “Despite how bad things have been, God isnot finished with us yet!”

Noödynamis and the Existential Vacuum

Countering conventional therapeutic approaches tomental health, where subjects are encouraged tofind “balance” in life, Frankl argues that whathumans need is not balance but tension—the dynamic“tension between what one has already achieved andwhat one still ought to accomplish, or the gapbetween what one is and what one should become”(Frankl, 1962,p. 104). As he observed in Auschwitz and otherconcentration camps, those who had a reason to live

were able to find a way to do so. Put otherwise, ifarchitects seek to strengthen an arch, they mustincrease the load at the top, not diminish it. Soit is that gaining a sense of meaning in one’s lifegives one a reason to live, thereby challenging theexistential vacuum faced by so many in everygeneration. A sense of meaning thus helps oneovercome adversity and threats to physical andsocial wellbeing, but it also helps one stave offthe throes of boredom and complacency—themselvesfactors of a life devoid of meaning. Helping oneregain a sense of dynamic tension between one’spast, present, and future poses the most potentantidote to the existential, polar threats: boredomand despair.As Israel had faced huge calamities and

humiliation in being led away as a hostage peopleto Babylon, being reminded of a sense of callingand purpose provided the means and will to stayalive and to transcend acute adversity. And, thememory of Israel’s history and tradition in exilebecame such a powerful means of social and personalorganization that its preser- vation in written andliturgical forms gave its people the strength notonly


to survive, but to stay together as an “us”—asserting an identity over and against competingalternatives. This must have been especiallydifficult, as the daily reminder of Israel’ssubjugation at the hand of the more-powerfulBabylonians must have called into question thesupremacy of Yahweh over Marduk, and the Babylonianmyth of domination certainly must have had itsappeal. Therefore, many Jewish exiles probably foundit easy to assimilate and to buy into the dominantculture, along with its religions, values, andmyths. In addition to the will to surviveadversity, the Isaiah tradition also calls for thewill to resist complacency: “Despite how good thingsmight have become in an alien land, we still have acalling as a people!”

The Meaning of Life and the Essence of Existence

Life’s meaning cannot be dictated; it can only bediscovered by each person. It is distinct forevery individual and group. There is no “bestmove” in chess; it depends on the layout of theboard and the progression of the game. Therefore,freedom must be tethered to responsibility. AsFrankl often quipped, “I recommend that the Statueof Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by aStatue of Responsibility on the West Coast”(Frankl, 1962, p. 109). Therefore, the existentialquestion is not what one might ask of life, butwhat life asks of us. Rather than the role of apainter, who sketches what is seen, thelogotherapist assumes the role of an ophthalmol-ogist, who helps the patient see more clearly his orher situation in the light of what one believes Godexpects. In that sense, the logotherapist is not inthe business of making value judgments; rather, thegoal is to help the subject consider the liberatingtruth about one’s actions and situation—envisioningthem from the future as a means of seeing the truthof one’s situation in the present. The present and

past are viewed together, interactively, in longitu-dinal perspective. The result of seeing theoverarching truth about one’s life apprises one ofone’s freedom and one’s responsibility. Therefore,finding meaning in life displaces the drive towardself-actualization with the call to self-transcendence, thereby opening one to the essence ofexistence.In the rehearsal of Israel’s history within the

Isaiah tradition, its present situation isclarified. The original calling of a people to be ablessing to all the families of the earth, from anexilic perspective, now requires discernment as tohow that might be so. In Babylon, the calling of“Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, theoffspring of Abraham, my friend” (Isa. 41:8) bearsin mind the legacies of Yahweh’s earlier Servants,David and Moses (Isa. 37:35; 63:11). In thatsense, the way Israel responds to her captivityshould not deny the character of her redeeming andgracious Lord. Despite the powerful advance ofCyrus, the Faithful Servant responds with non-violence and humility. In contrast to the BabylonianMyth of Redemptive Violence,14

14 See the extensive treatment in Wink (1992) of the God of Israel’s domination-


whose god created the world out of violence,murder, and domination, the God of the Jewishnation created order by his Word alone. Trusting inthat means and the invincible power of truth posesthe only way to transcend the cycle of violenceinherent within worldly systems of domination. Onlybecause the Servant of Yahweh is blameless andinnocent will the legacy of his suffering have aredemptive impact: “We are not bound by our circum-stances, but let us act in all ways so as to sow theseeds of peace rather than violence for futuregenerations!”15

The Meaning of Love and the Meaning of Suffering

According to Frankl (1962, p. 111), “Love is theonly way to grasp another human being in the coreof his personality.” Only in love can one glimpsethe potentiality of the other as well as his or heressential traits and features. Therefore, love isan experienced value, and it offers the key tofinding meaning in suffering. When sufferingbecomes inevitable, the only way to transcend itis to discern its meaning. “Suffering ceases to besuffering in some way at the moment it finds ameaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice”(Frankl, 1962, p. 113). One cannot change one’sfate; one can change one’s attitude toward it, andsuch is the way meaning triumphs over suffering.Frankl himself discovered a sense of meaning whenhis manuscript to his book, hidden in his coat,was lost as he was forced to forfeit his clothesat Auschwitz. In utter dismay at the loss of his“spiritual child” and wondering if anything of hislife would survive him, he was surprised by anunexpected gift. In the pocket of the new coat hereceived, he discovered a page torn out of a Jewishprayer book containing the central Jewish prayer,the Shemah Yisrael (Deut. 6:4–9). Rather than seeingthis as a mere coinci- dence, he found within thatpoignant loss and grace-filled discovery a calling:not simply to preserve his manuscript (on thesubject of meaning), but to live his manuscript even

while in captivity.Likewise, the Servant of Yahweh motif functions

within the Isaiah tradition to forge a profoundconnection between love and suffering. Out of lovefor one’s family and friends—desecrated, tortured,humiliated, killed— preserving their memory affirmsmeaning through their suffering. Rather thandenying or escaping tragic history, it is rememberedprecisely because finding meaning it its painintrinsically becomes a means of redemption.Therefore, the collective experience of thesuffering of the Jewish people, because it isbelieved to be a means of God’s redemptive workingsin the

free ordering of the cosmos in direct opposition to the myth ofredemptive violence, as rendered in the Babylonian Creation-Myth and Marduk’s slaughter of the mother-goddess, Tiamat.

15 Here the work of H. R. Niebuhr (1978) bearsconsideration. Essentially, he counsels the faithful to respondto all events and circumstances as though God were acting inthem and through them. Isaiah would agree.


world, becomes a source of hope for the future.Where they had earlier interpreted the Assyrianonslaughts and deportations and the Babylonianplunderings and translocations as acts of God’sjudgment against them, they now see thesedevastating chapters of history as the very meansby which God’s redemptive purposes are yet to becarried out in the future. With an anointeddeliverer such as Cyrus, the people of Israel areonce more shepherded back to their homeland tobecome once more the tended flock of Yahweh. Asother Jews in Diaspora settings are also invitedto return home and join in the reconstructioneffort, Israel has now rendered a written historyand attained a cosmopolitan perspective on howJewish society and religion might be managed:“Despite the loss of our loved ones and thedevastation of our nation, it is precisely throughthose sufferings that our healing—and that of thenations—is given.”

Taking Isaiah 53 Personally: Polyvalence Transformationand Transcendent Meanings

In the light of Frankl’s Logotherapy paradigm, howmight the Suffering Servant motif of Isaiah—and inparticular the fourth Servant Song of Isaiah 53:13–52:12—be read and understood profitably in latergenerations? As classic texts are inevitablypolyvalent in their meanings, there is neither afirst word nor a last word in the interpretation ofa text, as we ourselves are always involved (asMikhail Bakhtin reminds us) in the making ofmeaning.16 Therefore, we violate a classic text byseeking to establish a singular meaning at theexclusion of others. In Isaiah’s case, fightingover the voice of the original prophet versus laterpurveyors of (and contributors to) an extendedtradition makes little difference. Likewise,debating whether the Servant of Yahweh was anindividual or a group, or whether the SufferingServant should be seen as aimed at a contemporaryaudience or as a prediction fulfilled in Jesus,misses the mark interpretively. These are false

dichotomies, and all of these approaches are insome sense valid without needing to exclude theothers. The issue is how and in what sense the bestmeaning of the text should be embraced. Whateverthe case, an engaged interpretation will find a wayto take the text personally, in whatever situationthe reader is found.

Exilic Israel and the Hope of Restoration: A Transcendent Reality

As the Jewish people sought to forge out anexistence in Diaspora Babylon, they were given therestoration of hope by finding meaning in theirsuffering

16 For a polyvalent reading of the Fourth Gospel asa biblical text, involving several levels and types of dialogical operation, see Anderson (2008).


and the hope of the Restoration. Whereas theearlier Servant passages in Second Isaiah remindedthe Jewish people of their original calling to bea blessing to the world, to be furthered by theirrenewed call to become a light to the nations, thefourth Servant Song deals especially powerfully withthe meaning of suffering. When the singular third-person references (“he”) are taken as plural first-person meanings (“we”), the poignant references ofthe hymn become bluntly plain. The SufferingServant is not some distant figure in somehistorical narrative; it is our families, our loved onesour parents our wives and husbands and children—and sometimeswe ourselves, who are referenced in the recitation ofpain-laden suffering.Therefore, may I suggest reading this text as a

corporate expression? If we replace references tothe more distanced “he” and “him” with more intimatereferences to “our parents” and “our loved ones”this might contribute a more realistic sense ofthe preliminary and acute meanings of this text asit was delivered and recited in its originalsettings. In doing so the searing pain of recentmemories of humiliation, suffering, torture, anddeath come palpably to the surface; thus, even moreradical and transformative is the promise of hope,embraced as a transcendent reality (singularreferences have been changed to plural, offset initalics). After an introductory summary of thetheme (Isa. 52:13–15), the hymn is introduced withan engaging question:

53:1 Who has believed what we have heard,and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For our people grew up before him like a young plant, and likea root out of dry ground;[Our kinfolk] had no form or majesty that we should look at them— nothing in their appearance that we [or anyone else] should desire them. 3 They were despised and rejected by others—a people of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;

and as ones from whom others hide their faces they were despised, and we held even our kinfolk of no account.4 Surely they have borne our infirmitiesand carried our diseases;yet we accounted our loved ones stricken:struck down by God and afflicted [in divine judgment].5 But our loved ones were wounded for our transgressions— crushed for our iniquities;upon them was the punishment that made us whole, and by their bruises we [in later generations] are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray;we have all turned to our own way,and the LORD has laid on our beloved oneshe iniquity of us all.7 Our families were oppressed, and they were afflicted, yet he did not open their mouths;like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,


so our loved ones did not open their mouths.8 By a perversion of justice were they taken away; who could have imagined their future?For they were cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.9 They made their graves with the wickedand their tombs with the rich [in Babylon], although they had done no violence,and there was no deceit in their mouths.10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush our loved ones with pain. When you make their lives an offering forsin,they shall see their offspring, and shall prolong their days;through our martyred loved ones the will of the LORD shall prosper.11 Out of our humiliated loved ones’ anguish they shall see light;they shall find satisfaction through their knowledge.The righteous ones, my servants, shall make many righteous, and they shall bear their iniquities.12 Therefore I will allot my chosen people a portion with the great,and they shall divide the spoil withthe strong; because they poured out themselves to death, and were numberedwith the transgressors; yet they bore the sin of many,and made intercession for the transgressors [namely, all of us].

In finding meaning, even in the suffering of theJewish people—seeing that God has not only watchedover them despite devastating outcomes, latergenerations are enabled to glimpse their ownredemption not despite the suffering of loved ones,but because of it and through it. In coming to seeunmerited suffering as a sacrifice (with Frankl),the seeds of redemption are embraced and arenewed vision of God’s transcendent purpose isglimpsed. Whether the guilt of conviction or theguilt of survival is at stake, the punishmentdeserved by later generations is understood to beatoned for, and the righteousness of earliergenerations lays the framework for the redemptionof the future. Therefore, in finding meaning in the

suffering of loved ones, the pain and despair ofthe past and the present are transcended bygratitude, faithfulness, and hope. Therein lies thepromise of the future.

Jesus and His Followers: An Ultimate Realization

The connection between Jesus of Nazareth and theIsaiah tradition is strong and present in all fourGospel traditions, and in distinctive ways. Whilecritical scholars have correctly challenged the viewthat the Jesus of history thought of his mission interms developed by later New Testament writers—specifically about his death and its atoning work—this is not to say that he did not understand thetransformative thrust of the Servant


Songs or that he did not resonate with theircallings.17 Indeed, his moral teachings—returninglove for violence, praying for enemies, puttingaway the sword—reflect an understanding of how tosubvert the Myth of Redemptive Violence and thusto find a way out of its destructive spiral.Jesus’ personal embracing of the Suffering-Servantstance toward the world and its forcible measureswould also explain his calling his followers tocount the cost of discipleship and to likewiseembrace the way of the cross. In finding meaningin the Servant-motif of the Isaiah tradition, onecan imagine Jesus hearing of the crucifixion of2,000 Jews after the raiding of Herod’s armamentsupply in Sepphoris i n 4 B C E (four miles awayfrom Nazareth) followed by the revolt of Judas theGalilean over Roman taxation. Jesus’ embracing theethos of the Isaiah tradition was likely morepolyvalent than either critical or traditionalscholars have assumed.Undeniably, however, Jesus’ followers did indeed

understand his ministry, death, and resurrectionto constitute the ultimate realization of Isaiah’sprophecy.18 Without denying authentic meanings in thepast, Jesus’ followers saw his death at the handsof the Romans as fulfilling all the component partsof Isaiah 53—and then some. Like the SufferingServant, Jesus was despised and rejected by humans; he wasa man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; in failing to bepresent at the cross, even some of his disciples hidtheir faces from him; they might even have esteemed himabandoned by God—smitten stricken by God and afflicted; ashe was led to slaughter as a lamb that opened not its mouth.In reflecting upon the redemptive effect of hissacrifice, especially upon encountering theunanticipated presence of the risen Christ, Jesus’followers clearly found connections in theredemptive work of the Faithful Servant’ssacrifice: he was cut off from the land of the living; for thetransgressions of the people was he stricken; his grave wasmade with the wicked and the rich, though he had done noviolence nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet, seeing God’shand at work beyond and through these devas- tatingevents, the pleasure of the Lord lay in Jesus’ bruising andgrief; his life is an offering for sin; he shall see his

seed prosper and his days prolonged; and thus, the Lord’sRighteous Servant shall justify many. Not only are theseelements rife within early Christian interpretationsof the redemptive work of Jesus as the Christ, butthe first verse of Isaiah 53, “Who has believed ourreport, and to whom is the arm of the Lordrevealed?” becomes a byword

17 See, for instance, the references to Jesus’ not openinghis mouth or being silent (fulfilling Isa. 53:7), apparentlywith knowing intentionality: Matt. 26:63; 27:12, 14; Mark14:61; 15:4–5. The memory of Jesus’ silent actions is alludedto in Acts 8:32. In the thinking of the Fourth Evangelist,Jesus had predicted his death at the hand of the Romans as aparadoxical lifting up of the Son of Man (John 3:14; 8:28;12:32–33; John 18:32).

18 See over forty references to Isaiah 53 (with varyingdegrees of explicitness) in the following passages, includingall four Gospels and Acts; the epistles of Paul, Peter,Hebrews, and John; and Revelation: Matt. 8:17; 12:18; 26:28,63; 27:12, 14; Mark 9:12; 14:61; 15:4, 5, 28; Luke 22:37;23:34; 24:46; John 1:29, 36; 12:38; 19:24; Acts 8:32, 33;10:43; Rom. 5:9; 10:16; 15:21; 1 Cor. 2:9; 5:7; 15:3; 2 Cor.1:5, 6; Eph. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:22; 2:20–25; Heb. 9:15, 28; 1 John3:5; Rev. 5:6, 12, 13; 13:8; 14:4, 5.


for introducing the gospel message and its unevenreception within various New Testament traditions(Isa. 53:1; John 12:38; Rom. 10:16).

Evident also within the early Christianassociation of Jesus with the Righteous Servant ofIsaiah is its implications for following Jesus andthe way of the Servant in the world. In addition tothe call to embrace the cross, especially in the

Markan and Johannine traditions (putmartyrologically in Mark 10:38–39 and John 6:51–

58), Jesus is remembered as calling his followersto serving one another as the essence of leadership

(Mark 9:35; John 13:1–17). In especially pointedterms, 1 Peter 2:19–20 calls for Jesus’ followers

to live in upstanding, righteous ways as aredemptive witness in the world, following the

example of Jesus as the Righteous Servant of God:“For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God,

you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If youendure when you are beaten for doing wrong, whatcredit is that? But if you endure when you do

right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval.”Here we see the meaning of the call to embrace the

way of Yahweh’s Servant as extending beyond bothits meanings for exilic Israel and the Christ

Events. The way of the Servant is the only way tochange the world. If faithful witness to God’s love

and grace simply follow conventional modes ofreciprocating good for good, or evil for evil, suchis nothing special. Only when violence is sufferedunjustly can one’s righteous deeds be redemptive.

Put otherwise, when injustice is sufferedrighteously—without resorting to violence or force—it is always redemptive in its potentiality. Such was

the teaching of Martin Luther King, Jr.; heunderstood 1 Peter 2:19–25

correctly, and also Isaiah 53.

God’s Healing Power amidst Suffering and Loss: A Transformative Possibility

So, how might later generations interpret andappropriate the Servant Motif of Isaiahmeaningfully and fruitfully? When Israel’sredemptive vocation— threatened by Diaspora, Exile,and despair—is seen to be reaffirmed by Yahweh,not despite adversity but through and amidst it,this provides a basis for hope for everygeneration. Existentially, the meaning of life canonly be discerned situationally. When facing life’sjoys and challenges, the Faithful Servant of Isaiahposes a typological example of how one’s earliercallings might be redefined and reaffirmed in thelight of life’s unfolding joys and disappointments.One’s existence is transformed, as Frankl wouldsay, by one’s attitude toward one’s situationalgivens. Seeing one’s life as potentially furtheringGod’s gifts of blessing to the world imbues meaninginto any situation, displacing despair with hope andblindness with vision.Noting how Jesus not only embraced the Servant-

Motif of Isaiah within his mission, but alsotaught a radical ethic of non-violence as a meansof transforming the world, that ethos deserves tobe embraced by all of his authentic followers;ironically, this is only partially the case. What


would happen if all Christians followed Jesus inembracing the way of the non-violent Suffering andFaithful Servant of Yahweh in Second Isaiah? Mightthat make a difference in subverting the spiral ofviolence in the world, so easily perpetuated bythe families of Abraham today—Jewish, Christian,and Islamic? While the atoning sacrifice of Jesusas the Messiah/ Christ is indeed central to theChristian understanding of the fulfillment of theIsaianic Servant typology, the grace-filled way ofthe Servant also deserves sustained considerationwithin the Christian movement and beyond. IfIsaiah’s non-violent Servant typology—in contrastto anointed-one-like- Cyrus alternatives—were to beembraced by the families of Abraham, such might yetfurther God’s promise to bless all the families ofthe earth through his own. Indeed, grace isreceived by faith, and graciousness is extended byfaithfulness.And, in being willing to suffer for the truth

rather than to inflict suffering in the name of it,one’s capacity to make a redemptive difference inthe world is furthered exponentially. The truth isalways liberating (John 8:32), and upholding therighteous and just ways of God in the world bringsabout transformative possibilities therein. As thenineteen-year-old Quaker martyr, James Parnell,wrote to Friends from his prison cell, “Be willingthat self shall suffer for truth, and not the truthfor self.”

Conclusion . . . and . . . A New Beginning

The Suffering Servant of Yahweh is one of thecentral motifs of one of the classic texts ofbiblical literature—even of ancient literature, andas a classic text it continues to generate newmeanings and understandings. In cognitive-criticalperspective, Viktor Frankl’s Logotherapy paradigmhelps modern readers understand how the ServantMotif functioned for the first audiences of theIsaiah tradition, enabling also fuller

understandings of the dialogue between perceptionand experience in subsequent generations. Ascallings of groups and individuals meet withunexpected challenges and uneven outcomes, theinvitation to self-transcendence enables theglimpsing of higher purposes and renewed meaning.From Exile to Restoration, from the cross to theempty tomb, from death camp to existentialism,garnering a sense of meaning hinges upon glimpsingthe reality and operation of divine love beyondone’s plight and circumstances. When that happens,meaning is discerned, and a sense of calling isrestored—not as a conclusion of humanity’s questfor meaning, but more importantly, as a newbeginning. Such is the lesson of Isaiah’s SufferingServant of Yahweh for Jews, Christians, and all thefamilies of the earth, and if it be learned, God’soriginal promise to Abraham will indeed have beenfulfilled.


References

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"THE SUFFERING SERVANT OF ISAIAH IN COGNITIVE- CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE: LOGOTHERAPY AND THE BIBLE"

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